Al Martino, the Italian-American baritone renowned for a string of hits, including the sentimental ballads “Spanish Eyes,” “Volare” and “Speak Softly Love,” and for his role as the wedding singer in “The Godfather,” died Tuesday in Springfield, Pa., The Associated Press reported. He was 82.
Martino, born on Oct. 7, 1927, in Philadelphia, was one of the most recognizable pop singers of the 1950s and ’60s. Influenced by Perry Como and Al Jolson, he had a career that spanned nearly five decades. He leaves behind several celebrated songs, including his breakthrough hit for the small BBS label, “Here in My Heart.” Released in 1952, it rose to No. 1 in the United States and later became the very first No. 1 single in Britain. It also won him a contract with Capitol Records.
Al Martino had an influential and encouraging childhood friend in Mario Lanza, the American opera singer who became a Hollywood movie star in the 1940s and ’50s. Lanza was slated to record “Here in My Heart” himself, but dropped his plans after Martino explained that his own debut recording would be neglected if he did.
In the mid-1960s, with rock music dominating the charts, Martino and his “olive oil voice” helped reintroduce classic pop romanticism to trans-Atlantic audiences. Between 1963 and 1967 he had nine Top 40 singles, of which the most enduring proved to be “Spanish Eyes.” The vocal version of a song composed and first recorded by Bert Kaempfert as “Moon Over Naples,” it became something of a standard and was later recorded by both Elvis Presley and Wayne Newton. Martino returned to the charts in 1975, when he recorded a disco version of the Italian singer Domenico Modugno’s signature song, “Volare.”
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